Grading and sorting-grading apparatus



Aug. 25, 1931'.

M. BOUQUET GRADING AND SORTING GRADING AYPARATUS Filed May 16, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet' 1 Fig .1

Fig s f MNE/vra@ Aug. 25, 1931.v M. BOUQUET 1,829,773

GRADING AND SORTING GRADING APPARATUS Filed May 1s, 192s 2 sheets-sheet 2" Fig .6

hlll lll lll Ill Hlll lll III lll IUI Patented Aug. y17931 ,i Manent `Boutinnubi'onYvrssoUnUN, FRANCE y Appuaton'f alea nay' 16, 1929,y serial `Naasassi, and' 'in France may 19,' `192s.

- f The present inventionhas, forits'objecta vnumber of improvements `Jngradmg apparatusadapted to select, according-to their sizes,

diferent granular substances, andI particu-' '5v larly grains andy seeds, these improvements beingr applicable tor such-J apparatus .in which' the, grains 'pass through ay channel 4or gutter, 1

open atlthe bottom, Vformed by a rotary 7cylin'- der and a movable shutter, vther distance of which from tlielwallsvof the'eylindercan be-y regulated,5this distance, f owing4 toy the position the shutter, increasingf-fprr)gressivelyy so that ther smallest;` grains: can pass .through the' Vaperture ata ypoint closely: adjacent their vg, point ofentry, thellargerseeds falling, ac

cording to their size", 'at progressively'- distanced points, whilst thev largest seeds which are fgreater lthan the largest aperture in the channel, are `discharged atf they ,end of f the U grading apparatus. i'

l'lheinvention alsolias-or its objectacorn-y VVbinedgrading `and sotingapparatus adapt,y ed to sort andl grade sowingseeds 'and char' acterized by the combination of alsorting cyly inderhaving compartmentsofknown type, and Agrading vdevice constructed Y according to thepresent invent-ion, .the *latter `rbeing adapted to be attachedtothe sortingdeviee o r.: er surfaceof 'same'fis adaptedito util' y lized asa gradingr cylinder, y'irrespective Lof,

the out the ,direction followedy by? thefgs'eeds. during gradngpy 1 g,

longitudinal,movement of-rthefseeds.??y f ln l all g these ap p aratus, h

was always f eiected in `theV ,direction rof the slope f 'of'l the cylinder, the:A materia-lsf to be treated being: admitted into-tlic channel. at

its high-est' point,fthe'retu'sev being discharged' `at'the'lowest pointoi the said channel". f L

The, improvements what forma@ Object of the'fpresentinventionareas follower-gv .i 1;k The-movable shutter,- the position l'of yThe upper vconvex part y that they are deeper at the lowest end of the Wever, theI longl i' tu-dinal movement ofjthe seeds to? beV graded As' a result'the work of the sorter is greatly which can be adjusted,is yconcave-convex; with respect to the cylinderthe lower party of the shutter is concave, the upper part being convex The curvature of the concavity of the shutter must always be less accentuated 55 f than that of the cylinder, correspondingly to,v the nature of the materials to be graded. of the shutter ,may bereplaced by a flat part. Thus on the one hand the channel is formed by the wall of i the 'cylinderfand on the other hand by the Vshuttenthe latter being closer to the cylinder at its lower end than at its upper end, in a proportion which can be regulated. V :.72. The cylindercarries aprojecting helicoidal winding, whichmay for example consist of ka metalliccable located in grooves provided on the cylinder, these grooves, however, p being sunk in the cylinder insuch a manner latter than at the -top,"so that the cable located inthe said groove projects lessat the lowest enel` end.4 i y 3. The seeds or materials to be graded are of the cylinder than at its upper yintroduced into the channel at the lower Lend of same, so that theypass longitudinally 11pwards, the refuse being discharged at theL top end ofthis channel'. `f

The combination of a grading apparatus .such as thatdescribed above, with a sorting v n f A f cylinder'according to the present invention, f {App aray 'usf-have alreadynbeen devised-com?` pri'sing'fflatshutters,theloweredge ofwhich was located'either .in 'the horizontal: plane ofthek cylinder? agis orfbelow' thisy Aplane g' in like,` vmaunerfgradingapparatus are lmowii'frwhich comprise cylinders provided with groovesor helicoidal i projections kwhich facilitate the presents thefollowing advantages: 1f

vIn' the-case1where thefgrading cylinderi'is either independent of the sorting cylinder or isformed by the' outer surface of the latter 4'. As the grading is vel'ected priorto'the sorting, in eontradistinction 4 to that whichy takes placefin known apparatus, the grading 'eliminates in advance allk small and' medium sized seeds and in consequence the sorting apparatus only receives seeds intended for sowing,- and substantiallyy identical in size.

reduced,ask on the one hand a considerable portion-ofthe seeds treated have'been elilnifk nated by the grader' and. on the other yhand,`r. the Aseeds left over forfthe sorter have already beenr freed of all small foreign seeds, and also' sof' Y k.to the number of out the space occupiedby the apparatus be-v bly reduced;

- Y. In the accompanying 6. Owing to the large diameter of Vthesortiing cylinder' (60, 70, 85, c.VV 1n. according to capacity) it is possible 'to' arrange Valong the outer surface-,of the said cylinder, a plurality of movable shutters, which enable the gradingoutput to` be increased proportionatelyl superposed shutters, with.-

ing thereby increased.

l drawings *Fig 1 shows diagrammaticallya cross sectionfof agradingfd'evice, constructed in ac-icordance with the invention.`

Fig. 1a-shows aview similar to thatot Fig. 1, with the single difference that the upper part oi' the movable shutter is :plane in! stead-oi'fconvex. Y f Y, Y

. Fig.- vfafshows vdiagr-anirnaticaliy a section through the'axisvotrotation of `a part of a gradingcylinder, provided with .a helicoidal winding 'constructed according to" the invenyFig is a fFig. 4 is also afdiagrannnatical plan view ofthe same device; f

y grading apparatus, I the invention, maybe' attached to a sorting Fig. l5 illusrates the manner in'which a constructed accordingv to cylinder. y

' fFigfifs a 'diagrammatical cross section oi -a sorting and Vv.grading Y, p kthree vmovable shutters,"constructed 1nV ac- Y f'apparatus, having cordance with the invention.

aFgs u side-elevation 'of sorting andv grading apparatus constructedV according to the in'- venti'on, but in which vthe grading is eected inthe direction orn` the' slope of' the shutters. Y' As will be` -seen from the drawings, and particularly in Fig, 1, a gradi-ngdevice constructed according to the 'invention is formed by 'a cylinder 1 (which may be vset in rota- J tion'by-any suitable means) and-by a movablexshutter comprising a concave part Q, located-'adjacent the cylinder wall and aconveX part or flat part 3 cylinder, a kind of hopper the seeds to be graded. Y

The shuttV r may swing for example around aflshualft4fY (which maybe located following into v'which fall suitablegeneratrix oi `tlie"`shutter) suchfa manner'tliat the .openingv of the lcurvilineariangle-forined at right angles-bv theV construction are considera.

ylatter depending Vupon diagranrmatical elevation` of the.,V manner'in which the seeds to be graded ino ve. in Ltheapparatus;

7 andS are diagrammatical views inA forming, with the wall of the cylinder 1 and the concave part 2 ofthe shutter, may be variedas desired; on the other hand, the pivotal supporting aXis 4 of the shutter may be displaced transversely so vas to enable it to be approached to or moved away from the axis 0 of the cylinder, thisbeing-necess'ary to permit of leaving atall times a larger aperture atthe top end of...the,.channe1 and. to enable the width of this aperture lto. be varied over the whole length of they cylinder, according to the natureanddimensionsof the seeds treated. The shutter maybe vied in any position Vfv vhich,may be imparted to it.

On its outer surface (Figs. 12kk and 3) the cylinder carries a helicoidal windingwhich projects beyond the said surface, the wind-V ing,A consisting forv example ometal cables 6, being housedin helicoidal grooves' 7 provided. in the cylinder. The helicoidal Winding maybe: of vany pitch, the choice of the y the Arotary speed oi' the cylinder, the nature of the -workinvolved and-,the slope and `diameter ofthe gra-ding cylinder; As shown in Figure 5, the receiv-V inghopperv 13 is adapted .to receive materia'l treinthe helicalY winding .5 and'to transier the same .to .the sorting apparatus 12.

In anapparatus'of this kind, and as shown in Fig 4, it is essential that lthe. aperture of theV channel-should be larger at the. top end ofV theV cylinder thanv at itsy lower vend where admissionis-ejiected. In'certain cases, and when. materials Ahave to; be treated'V comprising very small seeds, it may Vloefnecessa'ry to approach-ithe shutter, at thepoint of admission, very close to `the cylinder. 1n order to prevent the. projection of the Vwindin-g interfering at this point with the adjustment of the shutter, notches Yhave-been vprovided adapted to YreceiveV the projecting cables or wires, in such a manner that they aredeeper at the-lower part Athan at the. higher part, this -depthwdecreasing uniformly. from one end ofthefcylinder totheo-ther.` i`

:This arrangement? is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, which illustrates a part oil the cylinder in section through its axis of rotation, from which will be seenthatthe Y grooves `provided' in the cylinder are, deeper attheZ lower endthan 'at-thetop'end, the projection of the windingsfthus increasing progressively in upward direction. l

vSI'n an vapparatus constructed in accordance with theY invention,

the channel are carried longitudinaliy vupn the seeds to be treated I reachfthe channel throughY a hopper 8,fed

- Wards aridtake theirv pofsitionlinthe chan- ,Hellas shown-iniltig-f1wfz The line off-intersection lofj twoy curved been? suitably adjusted, effects', in the ma'ssof seeds,"y primary 'selectioin` thelargest (seedsl 9-` ybeing kept above this line,v yonly thel smallest "derfandl the concave' patf of vOwingto `the-particular shape of this `partoff' thejshuvtter, the n smallseeds "which 'alonea're"aclmitted,`cannot; inove radially and are der van; the longitudinal sliding action of thehelicoidall Wires 'exercises' its? full effect onf same and these seeds are rapidly conveyed towards.the'v -pointfwvh'ereth slot in "the chanbeing'fconveyedthus'ala;f y

*The lrealizzuion joff-the:ascent fofzthe seeds also* presents thefffollovving f advantage: on

a leveljvvith the concavev party the-r mass ofthe/shapezo'fthe shutter and the slope of the device,{ inverselylto the direction of i'movement'aI 'party of*y t-he -massloverflov'vs the Wire" and fa-llsback to the pointfw'hich'Y they have."V just left fgllovvingafpathfsubstantially analogous-'tfothat fsh'o'wn' the-"curve 11 'in Owing tothisffacta very energetic?.

andi highlyy eecti've stirring of l'the' mass of seeds'to' 'be graded takes' place whichhas lthe effect of 'consid'erablygincreasing thecapacity AIn additionto the foregoing.'advantages;

thefaldaptation to grading-v apparatus of the improvements4r accordingv to `the present 1n-1 1 infwhich ajisorting'-device=follows a grading device andfoperates" inf conjunction Withsame Y 1'Inifact When ythe grading ise-ected l the direction offthelslope. of thecylindery'andv is necessaryfeither 'to make-avery high apparati? o c Y, theseedsfasthey leave thegradingapparatus and convey them tqtnehoppefafthe strung may-be thateshoyvn diagrammatically inf 5. n-Whihfth graderV may 'consist Of any numberL ofvcylinders'jl, beingclocated im` n mediately I above the .Sorting apparatus 12v having: :the: same slope and directiony `as the 3f; latter thematerials passinginto :the grading apparatus jthrough l` the hopper or i hoppers 78 andthjerefusek falling @fromthe orifice ofthe. helicalgrnemb'er into/the .hopperflwhichlow h ers itinto thecylinder 12 for the sorting.

il In this manner af very 'simple'apparatus surfaces(concaveand convex) of the shutter',

the@ distance `:of rWhich trom-the cylinderfhas hieldT individuallyfin y/contact with the cylin u nelis "sufficiently Wid'efto; permitj their escape, or tofthe'outlet, if their'size permitsof-their seeds' is carried? ylongitudinally but;k owing to vention permits offsimplifying'the apparatusy which is "thefsamey in' the 1 sorting-cylinders o'r' to'provideelevatorsto'take `up may be `constructed of lowf'heifght andi comprislng no conveyor mechan1sm."- f

` 'The invention may also l adapted y sorting and grading apparatus analogous to that shown diagrammatically in Figs. 6; 7:

and-'8,f in which the -sorting vlcylinder proper acts With'its outer vvall vas grader;l i

if-The ycombination 4of this device-With thez lmprovem'ents in grading' apparatus ffforming the objectiof this 'inventionpermits'thel constructlon of asortingf'and grading appa-f' ratus inwhich 'the materials to be treatedrare irstadmitted to' the lower outer end i ofthe `'iny the channel formed fby sorting cylinder,

thefsaid cylinder and the juxtaposed shutter or shutters; the sorting{operationfeffected on the outsideLo the cylinder conveys ythe larg-1` est seeds" (Whilstascending the slopeof vthey cylinder) as far as' the top fend of the latter; Where the seeds "fall of themselves Vthrough:v

apertures provided for 'this-purpose,- into the sortingcylinder, Where they arejsorted.' This combination mayalso be :realized ini the case Where'thegrading of theseed'sis effected not in ascending butf `follovving'rthe slope of thecylinder and the shutters,:in1y Which connection these slopes may rbe 'difer7 entlas shown in FigS. j

-In both cases suchan'apparatus consists of 'a sorting cylinder havingpockets offknovvn:1 type'sucl as sockets providedon'the inner surface offth'e' cylinder,' the outer'fsurfacey of which is suitablyy machined either by sturn# -inggr by Efitting a'second casing or'iagain..

byfafcoat-ing of suitable material so asq'fto serveas afgradlngcylinder;v f f ff 'roiy Adjacent the outer surface of this cylinder .y f

one or more movable shutters arefarrangediy "(15716* and 17' in Fig 6.)"Which serve for effecting the primary grading of 'the kseeds to be selectedand sorted.' f f Foreignvseedaqthe small' and medium seeds which have .passed throughr the grading den yvice arecollect'ed accordingto `size inboxes 18Vto which" they may be yconveyed "by -in clinedplanes located' under 'the grader.

" The'large seeds yforming the refuse ofvfthe i grader; farecollected in *a y"hopperr 19 from" Which they are 'again taken by an" elevatordevice (Archimedianf screw 20 for example) Which/conveysthem into a'secondh'opper 215 Whencethey passito the interior of the sorting cylinder yto Ybe `freed* therein from ithe f foreign seedsvvh-ich may be mixed `With them.

` This yapparatus operates' inith'eyfollowing manllrl 'c v" Onleaving the distributor the seedsareff `poured either on'to Vthe 'lower part' (fif ythe grading is eiected by ascending the slope) or 'ontothe upper" part (ifthe grading is electedfby follo'vvingthe actual slope offthe v,

cylinder) `rof the "firstshutter,v 'y l between thisv shutteriand 'the cylinder as also lits" :slopeare so adjusted that ythe said shut# rter discharges asrefuse at the outletab'outg 13o o l 6( 7' e j l, vIn grading scribed, a rotary cylinder and an adjustable shutter I floca'tedadjacent and at an :angle to,

one sixth of the rtotal quantity. of 1, seeds fed in by the distributor at the inlet,V in .oth'er Words this adjustment is such that'/ths Mo" the seeds treated by the first shutter Jiiall onr f 5;, channel. the loWerfpar-t ofsaidshutterbeing j isginturn adjusted in such; a manner thatitdischarges as refuse at the of,

"f tothe secondi i The shutterl Vout-let about one; fifth of: the quantity of the Se'edsWhiCh fall on. to it after passing bei 105 tween fthe shutten 15V andthe cylinder .1;1'-

finally theshutter 17 is so adjuStedthatits refusefis equal to one quarterfofthe quantity ofVV seeds Vxvhichfallffon to it.. after passing bet-Ween the vshutter 16 s and, the `cylinder L 'l`l1e re'sult is that yifthe adjustment of theA shutters `is suitably :effected thetotal of the refuseot the three-shutters is equalto one half vthe quantity of seeds-treated; the other halffof the seeds, vdefinitely classilied-accord- 20 ing'tosize by the .grading apparatus having.

been eliminated the sorting 'apparatusthus only :receivesfthe half of the; seeds-treatedin the Whole, of, the a;pparatus. I j Y The sortingjapparatus vreceiving this refuse,Y

Whichfthen consists4 solely of sowing seeds.

acts like ari-ordinary sorting apparatus as itv eliminates all, foreign .seeds which may be.

present therein. v

In the case VWhere the slope of thesorting j auf" cylinder is insufficient to enable the grading j device described Vaboveto operate .under proper conditions the slope' imparted .tothe movable vrshutters may be more accentuated than that of the cylinder; this arrangement.

353' is shoWn'diag-rammatically in Fig. 8; In thisj- Acase it Will be seen that the lower edge of the movable shutters Will not be rectilinear ,but

helicoidal.

It will be readily understood that an ap :40' paratus constructed in the manner described will combine the advantages presented by anindependent grading Yand vanindependent Y sorting apparatus. The cost ypriceV however of Vsuchjan apparatus will be considerably less" F" than the price of twov independent' apparatus,

moreover as owing. to the large diameter of the sorting cylinderfit is possible tomount a plurality oi *movable shutters against the outer surface of the-said cylinder a` greater Y outputfis Vobtained v:for the grader-and a morevperfect selection of the sowing seeds;` Y

:Finally 'as the sorting apparatus .only vhas todeal'rvvithhali" the -seeds introduced into theapparatus,its output is doubled thernore easily owing. -to the fact that the sorting is effected vvithv seeds already freed fromioreign seeds and smalland-medium seedsv which have been eliminated'by the grader. j

apparatus 0f; the je :a-

the Wallof said cylinder toform an .open channe'lfthe lower part of said shutter being ffconcave with respect to the cylinder lWall'. f

' said cylindersubstantiallyas described.

. 42i- 11nUradingap aratusofthet pe described si rotary cylinder and-an adjustable shutterv located adjacentY and atan angle to the wallof said cylinder vto torni an open and-at anangle to the-Wall of said cylinder' to form an open. channel tlielower part of said-shutter beingconcavevvith respect l`of the cylinderfvval'l'. *Y n I' Y Y 4.1- In grading apparatus Lof the type described a rotary cylinder saidrcylnderbcing provided with a helicoidal grooveaflexible member adapted to be received in said groove and an `adj ustable` shutter :located adjacent andat an angle tothe 'Wall-of said ,cylinder to form an 'open channel the lower part .of said shutterbeingconcave with respect to the cylindervvall andthe groove in saidcylinder varying:` in depth according to the distance of saidf shutterr from said cylinder substantially as 'described f 5. In -grading'-apparatus of the type de scribedgarotary cylinder said cylinder being lprovided With 4ahelicoidaly groove hop er means VV)fior-.feeding the substances to be graded located:atthebeginningof said grooveg a lex ible member adapted to be received in said groove and an adjustable shutter located adjacent and atV an angle to the Wall'of said v cylinderto forman open channel the lower part ofsaid shutter being concave with respect to thecylinder wall.

" 6. In grading apparatusof the typedescribed a rotary cylinder said cylinder being provided y-vvith'v a helicoidaly groove hopper means for feeding" the substances to be graded located at the beginning of said groovealleX-A ible member adapted to be receivedy in said Vgrooveand anadjustableshutter located adjacentuand atan anglev Vtothe Wall of said cylinder to'form an open channel, the' lower part of rsaid Vshutter being' concave`with respectto .the cylinder Wall and the groove in sadfcylindervarying in depth accordingfto the distance of'said" shutter from said cylin;

derVv substantiallyfas described.

v.; In grading a d 'soi-ang apparatus of the type described an inclined sorting cylinder eri-plurality of adjustable shutters located ad'- yj acentthe'outer 'surface of said cylinder andv at anranglelto' the Wall of Asaid' cylinder to form-@open`channels and a feed device yfor transferring Vseeds graded on the exterior of said cylinder` to be 'sorted-fin the interior lof Y MARcEL `eoUQUTi es.V 

